Stripped Of Innocence
by thundercalls
Summary: How far will you go to protect your son? – Based on spoilers regarding the upcoming storyline concerning Nathan, Haley, Jamie, and Carrie.


**Includes spoilers for upcoming episodes of the season. However, I'm mostly just using them as a basis for this story, and the outcome of the story is not what will be happening. I'll explain more at the end of the story.**

_How far will you go to protect your son? – Based on spoilers regarding the upcoming storyline concerning Nathan, Haley, Jamie, and Carrie. _

"What do you mean my son is _gone_?" Haley cried, her voice raising octaves higher than usual as Brooke stood in front of her with a guilty expression on her features. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest as she tried to convince herself that Jamie had just gotten overzealous and ran off with Skills to try and swipe some cake from the reception, even if the wedding was off.

"I just turned away for a second to talk to Bevin, and he was gone. I'm so sorry Haley. It's only been about fifteen minutes though, I'm sure he's fine." Brooke tried apologizing as the guilt began weighing down on her for losing track of her godson. But seeing the fear and rage swimming through Haley's eyes was enough to make her sick with herself.

"Fine?_Fine_? Fifteen minutes is a lifetime with a child. Do you know what can happen in those fifteen minutes? He's four years old, Brooke. You can't just expect him to sit there while you chat with other people. Why weren't you holding his hand? Why weren't you watching? I asked you to watch him for a few minutes so I could change out of my dress, and you lose my son! How can you be so irresponsible, Brooke?" Her breaths came in short gasps as panic quickly set in on her chest, knowing deep in her stomach that Jamie hadn't just wondered off for cake or to talk with Lily. Something was wrong. She knew it. Even when a hand clasped around her shoulder, she knew that when she turned it wouldn't be someone with her son. It'd be someone with bad news. She even knew who it was. After six years, it wasn't hard to immediately recognize Nathan's hands. As she turned to look at him, she swiftly shrugged his hand from her shoulder, "Do you have Jamie?"

"Haley, we need to talk." Nathan told his wife, or soon to be ex-wife, with a solemn expression on his face, keying in both Haley and Brooke that something wasn't right. "Somewhere privately."

"No, tell me. Tell me now, what is it?"

"A few weeks ago, I had the police check into Carrie's background. She doesn't exist, Haley. Her last name isn't her real one. And when the police went to her apartment… it's not good, Hales." Nathan felt a chill creeping along his spine as he remembered the account from the officers about how Carrie's walls had been 'decorated'. He should've trusted his instincts from the beginning. He should've told Haley immediately about the woman's advances towards him. But maybe he was a bit selfish in feeling a little reassured by them, considering since his accident, he and Haley hadn't been intimate and hadn't been as free as they were before his bar fight.

"Jamie's missing." Haley stated quietly as her face drained of color and her knees weakened. She crumpled towards the floor, numb to the jeers of pain that reverberated from her knees as they connected with the cement floor. Her eyes didn't register Nathan's face as he sunk down in front of her, his hands smoothing her hair back and drawing her into his chest. She soaked in his warmth and inhaled his scent that normally brought comfort. But for the last few weeks, those thoughts had been poisoned by Carrie and the scene she'd witnessed between her husband and nanny in the shower. Her hands pressed against his chest firmly, pushing him back so suddenly that he lost his foot and fell unceremoniously on his rear. "Don't touch me." She said through gritted teeth as she rose to her feet. "Your little girlfriend kidnapped our son!" Tears sprang to her eyes as she shouted at Nathan, realization quickly setting in. She heard shocked gasps from the people surrounding them, and within moments, they were swarmed by all their friends; Lucas, Peyton, Karen, Lily, Andy, Skills, Bevin, Mouth, Junk, Fergie, Rachel, Chase, Owen, Millicent, and even Lindsey. All were asking questions, all of which went unanswered.

"I called the police, they should be here soon." Brooke stated quietly as she broke through the small crowd to awkwardly stand between Owen and Chase.

"What's going on, buddy?" Lucas asked quietly as he sidled up next to Haley and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders, cradling her to him.

"Carrie took Jamie." Haley barely managed to get the sentence out before a sob ripped from her throat.

"I knew that tart was no good." Rachel said tightly, earning an elbow in the side from Peyton. "What? I was open about when I wanted Nathan. I didn't pretend." When Nathan shot her a pointed look, she shrugged. "Look, I may not be the biggest 'Naley' fan, but no one deserves this." Over four years, Rachel hadn't changed much, but her recent brush with death involving a New York nightclub and heroin, humanity seemed to be punched right into her. And that fist was from Brooke Davis herself, who had gotten Rachel out of there and into a week long detox program.

"Are you sure…" Peyton started to try and excuse away the early panic, hoping that this was all just a misunderstanding for the sake of Haley, Nathan, and of course, little Jamie.

Nathan shot a look at Haley pressed against his half-brother's chest, and looked gravelly at Peyton, "She's like Ian, Peyton." He felt guilt stab his stomach as he watched Peyton pale considerably at the mention of her stalker who had pretended to be her brother in order to get closer to her.

"I knew that Psyc-Ho was no good!" Brooke growled in outrage, her husky voice taking on an uncharacteristic edge as her fingers tightened around her cell phone as memories assaulted her too, from prom night when Ian had held her and Peyton hostage in the blonde's basement.

"Guys, please?" Lucas tried, casting his eyes downward at the woman in his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Yo, the police are here, man." Skills spoke for the first time, pointing to where two detectives walked through the reception hall and towards the group.

"I think you better come with us." They didn't waste anytime, holding their hands out to Nathan and Haley, to make the point clear of whom they wanted to follow them. "There's something we'd like you to see at your nanny's apartment."

"Screw that!" Haley whipped around, anger clear on her blotchy, tear-stained face. "Go find my son instead of wasting time showing me that bitch's apartment!"

As their friends stared at Haley in surprise, the shorter detective sighed, "Ma'am, there's some things at this woman's apartment that might help us find your son. But we need _your_ help first. Please, come with us. It's best we do this quickly. You don't want to waste any time in a situation like this."

Haley sighed quietly and nodded, before turning to Lucas, "If he shows up here, you tell him that he's never leaving the house until he's dead, okay?" There was still a little bit of hope in her that he'd just wandered off, even though she knew that her son knew better than that. She ignored the sympathetic and worried glances from her friends and family, as she strode out of the hall with Nathan at her side and the two detectives in front of them.

The car ride was tense, and quiet, as Nathan and Haley sat in the back seat of the unmarked car with the detectives in the front. The only noise was the static from the police dispatcher or the click of a turn signal. It was approximately ten minutes, but for the parents in the back seat, it was more like ten days. Haley couldn't believe it, when they pulled up to their old apartment complex. She had a sinking feeling that this wasn't the last of the surprises. She looked at Nathan with a wide-eyed expression, and got a solemn nod in return. Her teeth gritted to the point of pain as it sunk in that she'd never even noticed the address on Carrie's resume had been hers and Nathan's old apartment.

"Now… some of the things you find in here might be disturbing." The detective warned Haley as he paused with his hand on the doorknob to the apartment. He knew that her husband had already been in there, so he didn't feel the need to address the warning to the young man as well. After a beat, he turned the key and opened the apartment door.

Haley walked in, and recognized almost immediately that things were nearly the same as before. The London landscape that Nathan had painted on the wall after their second wedding was still there, which caused her heart to restrict as memories laid out before her eyes of when things were better. When they weren't in the midst of a divorce and custody battle, when they weren't searching for their kidnapped son. She felt herself get pulled into the apartment further, her gut leading her towards the bedroom. The door was cracked open and a single strip of light slivered through the opening, dust particles in the air lit up when they passed through the stream. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open with an ominous creak.

What she saw inside made her breathing stop and her heart skip a beat as she took in the walls. Hundreds of photographs were stuck to the wall from the last five years of Haley's life. Pictures of her at basketball games in high school, out around town with Peyton and Brooke, snuggling with Nathan at the docks, having lunch with Lucas, Skills, and Mouth at the café when it was still open, pictures from when she was on tour with Chris Kellar. There was a whole wall dedicated to pictures of her with Jamie solo, or with Nathan and Jamie. There were even half a dozen from his joint blessing with Lily.

"They're all of me." Haley stated the obvious in awe as she looked around the room at the pictures that displayed all her emotions so prominently. Amusement with the Rivercourt gang, pride with her son, love with her husband, depression as Karen and Lily departed for England. "Me? She's obsessed with me?" She asked emotionlessly as she turned to question the detective standing in the doorway with Nathan. Both gave solemn nods. "Why? I don't understand…" she trailed off as the single desk next to the twin bed caught her eye. She walked over to it and noticed drawings that had to be Jamie's. Next to them was a Polaroid photo. She picked it up slowly, bile rising in her throat at the bold Sharpee lettering that stated 'Momma and Jimmy-Jam'. Only it was Carrie and Jamie, not Haley and Jamie.

When she wheeled around to show the detective, it was only her and Nathan in the room. She was at a loss for words as she held up the picture so that he got a clear look at the writing. His square jaw clenched and the muscle in his cheeks jumped beneath the skin as his hands fisted at his sides. She didn't even jump when Nathan turned around and slammed his fist into the wall. There was a distinct popping down as his fingers cracked and blood smeared a picture of Haley smiling in the quad with her students. She watched his form as he stood like that, his arms stretched forward with his fists propping him up against the wall, his head hanging as every muscle in his body tensed.

"How could you let this happen?" His voice was so quiet, that neither of them were sure if he'd actually said them.

"Excuse me?" Haley asked, an edge lining the words dangerously as she straightened her back and squared her shoulders, ready to fight and rebut whatever he had to throw at her. He wanted to blame her for this? She'd made a lot of mistakes in the past, but _this_ wasn't her fault.

"I said, how could you let this happen?" He asked more firmly, wheeling around to face the beautifully angry woman that had given him six years of happiness and four years of an amazing son. "You never even checked her references, did you? You just let her right into our home, into our son's life!"

"Like you let her into your shower?" She spat at him, feeling something snap inside her that she'd been holding together with shoestring and glue for the last few weeks since walking in on the betrayal of the ultimate cliché; her husband, naked in the shower… with the nanny. "Don't you _dare_ blame me for this, Nathan! If I hadn't been so preoccupied with cleaning up your drunken messes while trying to raise our son while also working so that we at least have _something_ going into the household, I might have read through her references a little more. But in between throwing away your beer bottles and trying to reassure our son that his daddy did in fact love him whether or not he realized it, I didn't stop to consider that this bitch might be psycho!" Her throat felt raw from the emotion that poured into every word she shouted, tears sliding down her face as she ran her hands roughly through her hair. "This is _not_ my fault, Nathan." Her voice was deadly low, eerily so after having shouted at him only moments before.

"No, it's not." Nathan agreed as he hung his head in shame, staring at his shoes. "I'm sorry, Hales. It's not your fault. It's mine." He heard her sharp intake of breath and chanced a look at her. She looked stricken, confused. "For weeks, she was flirting with me. That one time where she skinny dipped wasn't the only time, Haley. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you. She… she crossed so many lines. She kissed me. Even after I told her to stop flirting, that it wasn't gonna happen. But I never told you because I was worried you wouldn't believe me and I thought it'd just stop, and I think she saw that as her chance. Maybe it was all part of her obsession with you; to get your life. Get your husband, your son." His voice cracked at the thought of Jamie being subjected to Carrie without Nathan or Haley around. Who knew what she was telling him. "That morning when you found us in the shower, I don't even know how it happened. I felt someone behind me, and of course I thought it was you. And then you found us, and I got a very rude awakening. Nothing ever happened. I didn't want her, I want you. Always you. Only you. Always and forever, Hales." He finished miserably, holding up his left hand to flash his wedding ring. Even when served with divorce papers, he'd never taken it off. He'd simply took a page from Haley's book and signed 'I love you' where his name should've been, and sent them back. They were destined to be together, it was as simple as that. He couldn't give up the best thing that ever happened to him.

"Now isn't the time, Nathan. Our son's been kidnapped! We're not reconciling. Not here, not ever. This isn't some movie where you can make a speech like that and expect me to fall into your arms and trust you again. You lied to me for weeks. Maybe it was payback for what I did all those years ago. But you treated me like dirt for months while you wallowed over a lost basketball career. You had a son and a wife that needed you. _You_ needed _us_, and you pushed us away. You were violent, and drunk. And I hated myself for thinking about what Deb once told me, about how basketball would be more important to you than your family. How she'd save some pills for me. I _never_ thought that you'd be like that. But _four months_, Nathan. I stood by your side at your darkest point for four months. How could you not trust me to tell me these things and not believe you?" She questioned, her heart thumping wildly as pain settled heavily on her chest, her tears coming tenfold as little gasps of breath escaped her as she tried to hold back her sobs, "Now look at where we are. Jamie's missing, Carrie's crazy, and we're arguing over our relationship. Or lack thereof. We're done, Nathan._I'm_ done." She said as she threw her hands up in the air in surrender as she walked from the room, leaving a miserable Nathan behind.

Several hours later, there was still no news. Haley sat in her parents' old house that they'd signed over to her when she'd told them about leaving Nathan. The silence both deafened and suffocated her as thoughts of Jamie filled her mind. The energetic little man should be running around, asking what was for dinner, asking if Uncle Skills could come this time. But as she held his miniature basketball to her chest, cradling it as she stared blankly at the phone, there was nothing. Just her breathing and the ticking of the clock that seemed to taunt her. Each second without her son, telling her she'd taken time for granted as she helped Mia with her album or helped Quentin after school with his studies so he could continue basketball. She needed him back so that she could hold him and never let him go.

"I've never been the praying type." She said quietly to the room, swallowing thickly as she tried to wet her dry mouth. "But please… if there's anyone out there that actually grants wishes. Please…" she trailed off on a sob, a hand clamping around her mouth in anguish, "Please. Give me a second chance. He's my life. I love him more than anything. I'll give my life for him to be safe and with his father. Just please, leave my son unharmed. Please." She sent out to anyone that was listening.

"You always were so selfless." A deep, loving voice said from a corner of the room.

Haley stood in alarm, wheeling around with a shocked expression. Even after five years, she recognized that voice. "Keith?"

"Hello Haley." Keith stepped out of the shadows with a smile on his face, comforting warmth exuding from him as he stared at the girl he'd known since she'd worn pigtails. Of course, after her mother was out of eyesight, she'd rip them out when Lucas would start to tease her.

"How…?" She questioned, unable to form words. She'd been in the school, heard the shot, watched as the body got wheeled from the hallways of Tree Hill High, went to his _funeral_, when Keith had been killed.

"An answer to your prayers." He said simply as he walked towards her.

Haley jolted awake, the basketball slipping from her hands as she tried to catch her bearings from the dream. She released a breath she didn't know had been lodged in her chest as she realized that she'd fallen asleep. She pushed the blanket off of her, and halted. She'd never put a blanket on. She instantly felt his presence before she saw him. She wheeled around to face Nathan, her eyes shining with determination. "I know where they are." She didn't give him time to respond as she sprang from the couch and headed for the door. She barely managed to grab her keys from the side table before she was on the porch. She jumped over the steps and took off for her car, vaguely aware of Nathan behind her.

He didn't ask any questions as she drove at twice the speed limit. He'd phoned the police as soon as he'd realized the direction they were headed. He'd known the route from Haley's house like the back of his hand. He couldn't understand why Carrie would take Jamie there, of all places, though.

"His first home." Haley said, as if she'd read his thoughts. Or maybe she'd just pieced the pieces of the puzzle together on her own, and was musing aloud. Neither dwelled on it for too long as they pulled into the driveway of the Scotts' home. Deb was away on a long vacation in the Bahamas, so the house was empty. Haley came by once a day to check on things and make sure to water the plants. When she'd hired Carrie, she asked Carrie to do it on her way home, and of course, the woman had no qualms in doing it.

As soon as they got out of the car, they ran for the door. It was unlocked, so they both entered and immediately began looking around. Nathan went to look upstairs, while Haley looked around downstairs. It didn't take her long to find Jamie and Carrie, sitting in the living room drawing.

"Baby?" Haley asked, getting Jamie's attention as well as Carrie's. Jamie looked ecstatic while Carrie looked nervous.

"Momma!" Jamie cried out, jumping up and running for his mother. He wrapped his arms around her leg and looked up at her happily, "You came back! You do want me!"

Haley looked at him in confusion, before looking up at Carrie in rage, "Of course I do, baby." She said as she knelt to his level, her face softening immediately as she stared into her beautiful little boy's happy face, "I love you. You're the only one I want." She promised as she hugged Jamie and lifted him at the same time. His legs wrapped around her waist as he clung to her neck. "Listen baby, your daddy's around here somewhere. When he gets down here, I have to have a little chat with Carrie, okay?" She said as she pulled back to look into his face, just as Nathan entered the room. Haley could practically feel his anger in the atmosphere, and it only added to hers. She turned to give Jamie to Nathan, and nodded her head.

"Hales…" Nathan said, worry and warning in his voice as he noticed the way her eyes clouded with unmistakable anger and a promise that he wasn't sure that he should leave.

"It's okay. Just get Jamie out of here." She said, her sweet smile still on her face so that she didn't alarm Jamie who was snuggling into his father's chest. Her eyes however, clearly told Nathan to leave. "I just want to have a little chat with Carrie about her employment." _Or lack thereof_. She added mentally, to herself as she watched Nathan reluctantly leave the room. She waited until she heard the door close that she turned her steely gaze back to Carrie.

"Hey, Hales. I hope you don't mind, but I figured you and Nathan would want to have some time together at the wedding to talk things over about your divorce, so I took Jamie with me over here to check on things." Carrie said smoothly, a rather believable lie save a few holes, if Haley hadn't already been to her apartment and seen the walls full with her own pictures.

Haley watched through narrowed eyes as Carrie began inching away, "You told my son that I didn't want him?" She growled accusingly as she advanced towards the skinny little bimbo. "What was your plan? Convince him that we didn't love him, and then provide that for him in your twisted fantasy of trying to get my life?" Her voice rose considerably as she got closer and closer to Carrie.

Her steps halted however when Carrie reached what she'd been inching for. She quickly grabbed her purse and pulled a gun from it, "Don't come any closer. I don't want to hurt you, Haley."

Her mind flashed back to that day in the school where Jimmy Edwards had pointed a gun in her face and threatened her. But she had no sympathy for the person behind this gun, this time. "You don't want to hurt me?" She asked incredulously, "You kidnapped my son! Stalked me for years! Tried to steal my husband from me! And you _don't_ want to hurt me? You really are insane." She knew name calling probably wasn't the best in this situation, but if Haley was the object of Carrie's obsession, then she probably _wouldn't_ shoot to kill.

"Nathan's not good enough for you! Look at how easy it was for me. You're lucky it was _me_ and not someone else, like Brooke or Peyton. I've heard about their sordid love lives. Brooke seems a little eager at spreading her legs, huh? And Peyton just doesn't like people having what she can't have, it seems. At least with me, it wasn't about stealing him from you; it was about showing you that you deserve so much better, Hales!" Carrie's eyes were wide with a psychotic glint as if she believed every word that she spewed. "Taking Jamie was so that we could go away! If Nathan thought that someone had kidnapped him, the three of us could just go somewhere else and you wouldn't have to worry about him getting custody. Don't you see, Haley? I did this for you!"

Haley's face was slack with morbid fascination. She couldn't believe the insanity that touched their lives. She really shouldn't be surprised anymore, but Carrie it seemed, was taking a page from Ian's book. "You're insane." She said the only thing that came to mind as she stood incredulously before the woman five feet away.

"NO!" Carrie shouted, thrusting the gun forward dangerously as her free hand raised to press the heel of her palm against her temple, "I'm not insane. I'm not crazy. I'm fine. I just want us to have the best. Nathan wasn't good enough for us. We deserve so much better. We deserve better friends too. But Jamie… our Jamie's perfect. He's the only thing worth saving from our life."

"Don't you _dare_ call him 'ours'. He is _mine_. Mine and Nathan's. You're nothing to him. In ten years, he won't even remember you. You'll be something he won't be able to discern from a lingering dream or reality." Haley stepped forward dangerously, lunging for the girl and knocking the gun from her hands. They rolled around, sharp edges from the mantel and bookshelves digging into their bodies as they both fought for dominance over the other.

Haley pinned Carrie to the wall with one hand, and reared back with the other and landed a punch. She barely got to feel satisfaction before a sharp right hook sent Haley reeling backwards, propelling her over the couch and onto the coffee table. Shards of wood scratched and broke her skin, blood slowly seeping through wounds on her arms and face as she slowly stood. Carrie hadn't even moved from the wall as she watched Haley rise with a concerned look. The nanny's mouth moved, but Haley didn't even hear the words as she went over and punched Carrie again. This time, the girl fell to the ground, disoriented and in and out of consciousness.

Haley winced as she felt pain stabbing her body. Carrie deserved a lot worse than a few punches. She was prepared to leave her like that for the cops, whose sirens she heard in the distance, when her eyes caught sight of the gun lying next to Carrie's prone body. She stared at it for a moment, before bending forward to grab it. It felt heavy in her hands, as if she wasn't supposed to hold this. She wasn't supposed to be staring down at the gun in her hands with a blank expression on her face. Her eyes flitted to Carrie, who groaned pathetically on the floor, her head lulling back and forth. Without thinking, Haley pointed the gun at Carrie.

"You know," Carrie's eyes fixed on Haley's and alarm spread across her face as the brunette spoke, "Your fingerprints are on this. The place is trashed. I could easily say this was self defense. A grieving mother, school teacher, straight A student, never did anything wrong. They'd believe me in an instant." Her voice was oddly hollow as she spoke, as if she wasn't even processing that she had a gun pointed at the chest of her nanny with her finger on the trigger. "Especially after seeing your apartment, the fact that you kidnapped my son… you racked up the evidence against yourself, didn't you?"

"Haley, please… you don't want to do this." Carrie pleaded, her eyes widening in fear as the situation began to sink into her thick skull.

"You stalked me for years. You went after my husband. You _kidnapped_ my son. You told him that his parents didn't want him. God, he's just an innocent little boy, Carrie! You need to pay." Haley stated as she heard the sirens get closer and closer. It was now or never. Did she do the right thing and let Carrie go, let the police deal with her? Or did she fill her father in law's shoes? Murder someone in cold blood? "Get up." Haley told Carrie, who immediately obeyed, realizing that she didn't have room to argue when there was a gun following her every move. Haley watched her carefully, before lowering the gun. When she took a step forward, carefully avoiding the broken wood and books strewn across the floor, she noted that Carrie was frozen to the spot in fear.

"You need to pay. And you're going to." Haley reiterated as she got nose to nose with Carrie. She watched as relief crossed the waif's face as she realized that the gun was in Haley's hand at her side, and not pointed at her. But her face suddenly was open mouthed and shocked as a bang echoed in the room and a bullet tore through her body. Blood spattered on Haley's skin and clothes, her face dripping with Carrie's blood as the other girl fell to the ground dead. Haley stared down at the body as the gun dropped from her hands.

A minute later, Nathan's voice screamed her name as he ran in there, followed by the police.

Statements were given in a blur as the sirens lights and chattering police created a world of brilliant light and sound around Haley while she sat in the back of the ambulance. She had a cracked rib from when she'd fallen, a few cuts and bruises, and was immediately diagnosed as in shock while a good chance of post-traumatic-stress-disorder. After getting wiped of Carrie's blood, Jamie had been placed in her lap by Nathan and he sat at her side on the ambulance's bumper. When the police detective came to get Haley's statement, he asked her what happened. "I followed a hunch and came here. Nathan got Jamie out and I talked with Carrie. She went on about how she did all of what she did for me. She referred to me and her as the same person. She pulled a gun and we fought. While we were fighting, and struggling for the gun, it went off." She lied smoothly, staring blankly at the body bag that was being wheeled from the house.

"Well, given all the evidence at her apartment, I don't think that you'll be brought up on charges. Sounds like self-defense to me. Seems like you're one of the lucky ones." The detective gave a small smile before departing, leaving the family to be by themselves.

Haley barely felt Nathan press a kiss to her temple, or Jamie snuggle into her chest as he tried to sleep. All she noticed was the black bag that held Carrie's body being wheeled towards the coroners van. And she felt content.

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This is really how I want this storyline to go. Not necessarily Haley killing Carrie, but I want her to stand up. I want Joy and James to have a gut-wrenching emotional scene when they realize that Carrie's kidnapped Jamie. I would love to see Haley grow from this. I really want Mark Schwahn to explore her character outside of Nathan. Because I feel like every season, that's what she's been about. Either tutoring and getting together with Nathan, marrying Nathan, leaving Nathan, going back to Nathan, fighting to get him to give them another chance, being pregnant with his son, paying for his mistakes (Daunte, the accident), standing by his side, and this season, I see she's branched out a little more (even after taking care of him _and_ Jamie in the first few episodes), but I really want to see her be explored _away_ from Nathan for a little while. Because Joy is the best actress on that show, and it doesn't get showcased often. So this is just personally how I would love to see the storyline work out.

Now, to explain the story's title, Stripped of Innocence. It's about stripping innocence from both Haley and Jamie. Haley, for killing Carrie to protect her son. And Jamie for being kidnapped at such a young age. Even if you don't immediately realize that's what's happened, it's still a potential life-changing moment.

This isn't amazing, but I've been writing this since 5 am and it's now 630, so all mistakes are my own. Reviews are appreciated, 'cause this is only my second OTH fic.


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